TEA by Plumes

Two years ago I was still working at bfresh, a grocery store on the southern boundary of Allston. I'd started in the "Replenishment" department in the summer, just a few months earlier. Despite my relative newness, I was called upon to train a new hire named Claire. We were refilling dispensers in the bulk section when, as we struggled under 30 pound sacks of almonds, I learned she was an audio engineering major at Emerson.

That was the first of many times when Claire and I would discuss music together. Eventually I asked if she might be interested in helping Plumes record an album. We had only just begun to record our first album "In Lieu of Essays" with my god-brother, Fred. Still, the chance to record with Claire seemed like a bad one to miss and I already knew there was another album I would like to soon record. It would feature songs arranged somewhere between the electric rock-frowardness of In Lieu of Essays and the sparse acoustic sounds that, a few months later, I would release as "The Acoustic Microwave Background."

Claire and I decided that, eventually, we would record drums for this album in Emerson's student studio. (This is why, in March of 2018, we unceremoniously posted the "Emerson BPMos" album; it was the easiest way for Ben to access the new songs to practice/arrange drums.) Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, Claire's school work and our focus on playing out and finishing our first album kept the recording at Emerson from ever materializing. Before we knew it the school year was over and then, in the summer of 2018, Claire and I left bfresh.

All the while, though, the prospect of recording gave focus to developing the album. Not knowing, at first, what to call the project, I started to refer to it as "The Emerson Album." This, of course, is part of where the name for the album comes from; the working title, made into an acronym, is TEA.

The other reason for the name comes from a happenstance theme. Nothing about themes or lyrics has ever directed the track listing of a Plumes album except on our first two EPs (no small exception, but keep in mind that all the music we've yet to share is also being grouped this way). These songs were only placed together because they all sounded like they should be arranged around acoustic rhythm guitar but also drums. They also represent a great time-spread through the Plumes catalogue; Out of the Inn was written in 2014 with Mirror coming shortly thereafter, while Running Into an Interim's Crush and The Mighty Oak were only finished in late 2017, around the time I met Claire.

It just so happens, though, that most of these songs are about friends. It seems most Plumes songs, and perhaps songs in general, are love songs. TEA is an album mostly about platonic love, though. This includes (but not limited to) that shared between the members of the band. One symbol of that bond is our ritual of drinking tea together before every live show. As much as it serves to warm up our voices, it also centers our focus away from pre-show nerves and, instead, on how grateful we are to collaborate together musically and enjoy each other's company. It was conveniently fitting, then, to stick with the name.

The chance missed to record with Claire, we didn't actually begin recording TEA until May of 2019. We had challenged ourselves to play 25 shows in 2018 while recording In Lieu of Essays. After a welcome lull in the winter of early 2019, we started practicing the rhythm tracks. We had an excellent experience recording with Dan at Pink Noise--I really recommend any of you looking to start another recording project consider going there. The rest of the summer was spent recording electric guitar and vocals in our apartment, with occasional remotes to Ben's family oasis in Smithfield, RI. (This was a nice return to our roots for Ben and I, as our first times ever playing together were in that same basement our sophomore year of high school.) As much as recording can be painstaking, patience straining work, this process really felt like our own and served as a great celebration of one another--just as the songs are. We're very proud to finally share it with all of you.

Plumes is Ben Long (on the drums!) Tim Green and John Thorsen. Music- listening to it, learning to play it, writing more of it- has been one of few things we've taken really seriously for the last 7 years. These songs grew through many late nights and missed appointments. Our songs are all really about something. It's sincere and sometimes naked. Hope you like it